So far my only experience with an Oolong is TeaVana's "Toasted Nut Brulee" blend, which has so many different things in it that I know the flavor of the Oolong itself is lost.

I'd like to delve into the world of Oolong teas and try a few "good" ones. In terms of my taste in tea overall, I love notes of nuttiness and natural sweetness, and a rich, smooth taste and finish.

There are absolutely no tea shops near where I live (a tiny town in East Texas), so it has to be something I can order online, and preferably in small quantities in order to experiment and see what I like before investing.

I think most of the vendors recommended in this thread would be good places to start. Most oolongs will have some degree of astringency or bitterness; you might want to try some Dancongs (though they can be tricky to brew in a way that minimizes the astringency) or medium fire Tieguanyin.

One other word of advice from my early days of tea drinking... don't assume that your concept of "nutty" or "sweet" will line up with a vendor's. As you get more experience with tea, you'll probably develop a better idea of what to expect when a tea is described certain ways. I remember thinking that I would like teas that were described as floral.... well, there are a lots of different types of "floral" that a tea can be, but I found out quickkly that I didn't like some of them.

There are a few general classes of oolongs, so I would actually not limit yourself too much by trying to find teas that match a particular flavor profile; try representative examples from all of the major oolong genres, and then start to hone in on which types you tend to gravitate towards more.

There are 4 types of oolong, Anxi oolong mainly Tie guan yin - it is the perfume of the gods, Wu yi yancha also known as Rock oolong, they are more oxidized and dark, they have a distinctive mineral flavour that sets it apart from any other tea in the world, there are taiwanes oolongs, like Highmountain oolongs from Li shan, they are green oolongs and they have a unique caracter oily, coating the throat, and the have a sweet marmalade aroma, and there are Dancong oolongs, they are rare and expenceive and unparalelled in fragrance and aroma like the ones teahabitat sells, or they are other teas sold as Dancong for 5 $ /100 grans and they are the worst in the world.

Thanks so much, everyone, for the insights and information and advice! I am finding, as I look around different vendor's sites for oolong tea, that the way in which they are described varies quite a bit.

I think I'm just going to have to dive in and order small quantities of a handful of different types and see what I like best.

Ah, and Rabbit, thanks for the suggestions about the green tea -- I'll look for those, definitely.

http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/cat ... =547823017 I have posted a link for an electric scale, this is a very useful utensil, it makes you effective and you don`t have to waste tea, and you can make each session the same, and the pictures are the illustration of a gong fu gaiwan set, it is a cup set made for oolongs, it is 120 ml, it is a universal set, it can make any kind of oolong, it is a good investment for starters, there are many diffrent gaiwan sets, the price ranges from 10 $ to 100+. Do not buy a yixing until you get more experienced, and use clean soft water for oolong, like bottled mountain spring water, or brita filtered water at least.

I just received from Floating Leaves their Dong Ding Charcoal Roast and my first impression was nutty and sweet so maybe you'd like that kind of oolong. I think that Oni is right on about the scale and the gaiwan. The scale is really helpful in the beginning if for nothing else than to train your eye and the gaiwan really works for any kind of tea.

tea-awed wrote:I just received from Floating Leaves their Dong Ding Charcoal Roast and my first impression was nutty and sweet so maybe you'd like that kind of oolong. I think that Oni is right on about the scale and the gaiwan. The scale is really helpful in the beginning if for nothing else than to train your eye and the gaiwan really works for any kind of tea.

Thanks for the recommendations. I will try this one next time I order from floatingleaves tea.

Another one to check out is xiao hong pao from jingteashop and its a wuyi/yancha. Its been a while since I had it but I remember it having a good nutty flavor. Unfortunatly its currently sold out but they should get some more throughout the year. Even if you don't find the nutty flavor many of the teas suggested will be tastey anyways

I'm late to the game and it's gotten a bit crazy at this point, but I almost always recommend Anxi or Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong to someone looking to get into it. For me, they are the most eye-brow raising. Of course dan cong and wuyi are also excellent, particularly the high-end ones, but I just find the others to be more dramatically mind blowing to someone new to Oolong. So fragrant.

Also, while drinking an aged bao zhong (Taiwan), the word "nutty" came to mind just recently. Though I don't think it's usually described that way, it reminded me more of a starchy brazil nut (along with the more forward stone fruit flavors found in aged oolong) versus the almond-like nuttiness of fukamushi sencha.